Wasps
by LifeintheShelleyBoat
Summary: James Potter was brave, but he hated wasps too. Lily Evans smiled. - One shot. (Rated T for swearing)


**A/N: Basically some Lily and James fluff. I hate wasps too. **

**Disclaimer: All creds to Jo-Ro.**

* * *

"FUCK", Lily Evans screamed, jumped out of her seat and bolted for the door leading into the house. All this in extreme effort to escape a persistent wasp.

"Oh for goodness sake Lily! Don't be that girl Lily Amelia Evans. Don't be the girl who runs screaming, terrified by the buzz of a bee." Her aunt scolded.

Unable to think of a witty retort due to the state in which the damned _wasp _had left her in she could only correct her aunt on the latter's error of insulting the bee species by mistaking a horrid _wasp _for a harmless bee.

Her aunt merely rolled her eyes.

"It was a wasp", Lily reiterated in vain to regain the dignity she had previously lost in running away from a _wasp. _

And quite honestly, it wasn't the buzzing that bothered her so much as the incident that usually follows the buzz. Lily Evans is, of course, referring to the stinging. Personally, she had never been stung and perhaps her ignorance was the reason she was so afraid. Fear of the unknown if you want something to the poetic effect. She certainly had no intention of being stung.

What if she was allergic? That could be dangerous, fatal even! What if it was unbearably painful? And as a witness to her friend being stung once before, she could say with great confidence that it did indeed hurt… a lot.

This friend was her dorm mate and fellow Gryffindor, Marlene McKinnon. She was stung in second year by a wasp whilst the two girls were out on the Hogwarts grounds- soaking in the sun on the last days of summer.

It was safe to say, the situation was pretty traumatising. Marlene had not stopped crying for the entire half hour that the pain lasted. Half-hour you ask? With a Mediwitch? Yes, the lengthy duration took both girls by surprise as well. Apparently wizard kind had not yet invented neither potion nor salve to cure wasp stings. Bee stings, yes. But wasp stings? No. No, they were 'entirely different and the toxins involved were infinitely more complex' were Madam Pomfrey's words.

It has not escaped Lily the, for lack of a better word, patheticness that this mindset of hers induced. The previously named incident still plagued her to this day, four years later. Today is, by the way, a fine summer afternoon in the year 1975 (the summer of her sixth year). The glorious sunlight was the very reason that Lily was even sitting in the sodding garden, she reflected resentfully.

"Honestly" her aunt continued, walking past her in the doorway and nudging her along in to the living room area.

"You don't want to run screeching like those girly girls who run at the sight of a group of ants. You ought to be brave, you _want _to be brave Lily".

For the benefit of the reader I shall confide in you a little insight into the character of Lily Evans' Aunt Poppy. Contrary to her name, Poppy Evans was an incredibly robust woman. A figure that intimidated adults and installed fear into children. A figure that, if ever a game of rugby was to be played, she ensured her team victory- regardless of the prowess of the other members. She was an extremist. Everything she said or did was excessive, an opposite to her sister and Lily's mother Rose Evans.

Rose Evans was petite and possessed a gentleness that was felt in her walk and in her words.

Lily rolled her eyes.

"Being brave isn't defined by whether or not you run away from insects. Real courage is about doing right and not being afraid of getting hurt in the process. No one knows whether they're really brave or not. For all you know I could run away from a wasp, but jump into a stormy sea to save a drowning child. The world isn't black and white. There are shades of gray and bravery can't be labelled as simply not being afraid of wasps. "

Rose Evans smiled.

Poppy Evans huffed in annoyance, knowing that she was nowhere near philosophical enough to argue with that and ventured off to seek out her favourite niece, Petunia- who was not afraid of wasps.

What the bloody hell was wrong with fearing wasps? Agrippa, Lily had once fought off three Slytherins trying to use the _Cruciatus_ on her. She lived in a world where her kind was hated by more than a third of the population. She lived in a world where her kind were being murdered everyday. Lily Evans was brave. Lily Evans understood the meaning of courage and Lily Evans had always done what was right. She was proud of who she was and proud that she was a coward when it came to wasps. If she feared nothing then what on earth would she fight for?

And what the fuck was wrong with girly girls? Did feminism mean nothing to the woman, honestly.

* * *

Much to Lily's chagrin a week passed and her Aunt continually pestered her about being brave. Apparently Lily's uplifting speech had failed to inspire Poppy Evans. Also to Lily's dismay, it was her aunt who was to be driving her to King's Cross as her mother and father were both preoccupied with other, more important ordeals.

"Remember to be brave, Lily." Her Aunt practically chimed as Lily clambered out of the car with her luggage. Lily smiled with hardly repressed irritation and fled to platform nine and three quarters feeling happy to be finally free of her Aunt's oppression.

Lily was still going over potential comebacks she should have said to her Aunt and possible things she could do to annoy her even more when she came back for Christmas and so was very distracted when she stepped through the barrier and onto the platform.

And so what she saw next came as an ever greater surprise than had she come upon it with a sound mind.

"Oh my fucking God." Lily breathed. Seeing but not quite believing the sight before her.

The usually immaculate Hogwarts Express was absolutely covered in _wasps. _

The irony of the situation was almost painful. It was like the universe was playing some cruel practical joke on her.

_How?_

To further aggravate Lily, it seemed that the universe had decided that Lily Evans was the only person to fear the buggers. Everyone else on the platform were either staring in fascination or simply chatting to their friends about it.

Lily was fixated in a state of horror. From what she could see there were over a thousand wasps, collectively over the entire train there must have been many, many more.

"Oh mother fucker". James Potter half ran half tripped over next to Lily, swatting at his ear along the way. She saw him recollect himself beside her and shudder slightly.

She smiled.

James Potter was scared of wasps.

She wasn't alone.

James Potter- the boy who had once dived into the Great Lake to unwrap the tentacles of a Giant Squid gone rogue off of a struggling first year was afraid of wasps.

James Potter was brave.

James noticed Lily smiling at him and looked at her with a puzzled expression. (She looked beautiful.)

"What you looking at, Evans?"

"Oh, nothing." Her smile grew wider. "It's just that, well- you're afraid of wasps, aren't you?"

James' grin, for her smile was infectious and lovely, faltered a little.

"Of course I am." He said rather defensively. "They're bloody horrible. All they do is go around stinging people. I can come to terms with bees, I mean at least they give us honey, you know? But wasps? No they're just spiteful.

"I mean personally I've never been stung and I don't intend to ever be stung so I've got to be careful. McKinnon's told me that it was torture. Apparently we can't even heal them!"

James' eyes were slightly pleading and his tone was dramatic, as if he was trying to persuade her that he really wasn't soft, but that wasps were really, really awful.

Lily grinned.

"I completely agree, I hate wasps too- awful things."

James Potter is afraid of wasps too.

She'd found her comeback.


End file.
